After the defeat (1-2) against Denmark on Friday, the French team, revamped, was held in check (1-1), Monday, in Croatia.
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With ten changes in the starting eleven and the use of a different tactical system, to four defenders, Didier Deschamps wanted to test his workforce, Monday, June 6, against Croatia, five months from the Cup of the in Qatar. But if the Blues delivered a solid performance, with a lot of application, they were joined in the scoring in the last minutes of the game (1-1), as against Denmark, on the first day of the League of Nations (1-2).
Mike Maignan aligned in goals, an unprecedented hinge made up of William Saliba and Presnel Kimpembe, a first tenure for Mattéo Guendouzi, Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappé on the bench … A Split, the important thing for Didier Deschamps was to put his Usual testing to the test. “We are in a competition, but it is above all preparation matches for the end of the year,” he said at the M6 microphone after the meeting. On the content of the game, the coach had to assess the technical mastery of his players, their application and their defensive solidity; But there are still lines of work in the Blues.
Offensively, if Christopher Nlunku and Moussa Diaby combined well, the Habs lacked automatisms and Wissam Ben Yedder was almost ghostly in front of a very well organized Croatian block. The Monegasque, which his teammates had trouble finding, was simply illustrated on a decisive pass in favor of Adrien Rabiot for the opening of the score, at the 52 e minute of the game .
a defensive alignment to work
Lower ground, Aurélien Tchouameni confirmed his enormous potential by behaving as a patron of the midfielder. With only nine selections on the clock, he made his play volume speak to actively participate in the recovery of the ball and prevent the Croats from projecting themselves into the French camp. The latter proceeded more in the wrongs, taking advantage of the spaces left in the back of the Kimpembe-Saliba hinge. The two defenders, well helped by Mike Maignan, still carried out decisive interventions to prevent equalization, ultimately intervened on penalty, in 83 e minute, after a fault by Jonathan Clauss on Andrej Kramaric.
As against Denmark, the Blues are therefore deprived of victory in the last minutes of the meeting, which Adrien Rabiot regretted: “I am quite disappointed, I think that the group too. I felt we had The match in hand, we concede a penalty on an inattention error and we leave with one point, when we had the means to seek victory. “The men of Didier Deschamps, who therefore only count Point in Group 1 of League A of Nations League, will try to catch up in Austria, Friday.